Find Your Ask the Expert: What plants repel mice and rats? -Joy
Flower Shop Network’s Plant Expert Reply: There are many plants that have pest repelling properties. You might try planting these in or around your home to keep the mice away: any type of mint, amaryllis, sweet pea, lavender, daffodils, wood hyacinth (or squill), grape hyacinth, alliums, catnip, camphor plant, elderberry, euphorbias, and wormwood.* Oak and bay leaves are also known to repel rodents. Planting any of these outside your home is a good way to deter mice and rats from coming into your house. You may also make sachets out of the leaves of some of these plants to use in drawers and closets, especially mint, bay and lavender.
Flower Shop Network has not tested these, but they are known to work.
You might also like: Plants for Pest Repellent That Actually Work!
Mint doesn’t repel rodents, its the first thing they eat on my balcony. The peppermint and other types of mint were eaten completely.
My garden nothing but mint but one mouse mints as her nest. I am depressing! Don’t know how to get rid of them. I’m afraid of mice so trap then I will have to see them. I have no one do that for me. They are came from open sew of the city of Huntington beach so no one can catch all of them for good. I was thinking to get brazo
wires to bar around my yard. My back yard is private so won’t hurt others neighbors pets.
Jennifer,
Here are some other options to repel rodents. Drip up to to 4-5 drops of the suggested repellent below on a cotton ball, then place it in those spots where rats appear more often.
1. Peppermint Oil (by Now Foods)
2. Vitacost 100% Pure Peppermint Oil (by Vitacost Brand)
3. Mouse Away Concentrate (by SomaTherapy)
4. Bonide 12-Pack Mouse Magic Pest Repellents (by Bonide)
5. Critter Out Mouse & Rat Repellent (by Critter Out)
I’m surprised that your mint isn’t doing the job but hopefully this will help.
I’m only asking. Is catnip the most affective and would it be good along side daffodils and also because I’m seeing the above comments and my common senses. And I’m terrified of bugs and mice so the mint definitely works for some bugs.
Hey Danielle,
We have heard that catnip does work, but we have never tried it before. If you do use it, keep us posted cause we would love to know!
Fresh Cab works great to get them out of your garden and out of your garage. I ordered it online about five years ago, but I’ve now found it at some stores. We haven’t had any of them nesting in our garage ever since.
I have planted spearmint, menthol and peppermint but rats seem to angry and cop of some leaves and stemps from the mint pots, what should i do then?
I have a huge catnip plant and the rats just have fun running around and in it
My front flower bed is full of grape hyacinth yet the mice keep burrowing under it to live – it is not repelling them at all.
We are having a large problem with the rats we live out in the woods and we had to move our chicken coop because they had nested underneath it and we’re getting in the coop. So we built a new Coupe on the other side of the property and next to the garden I just found a baby in the garden its eyes weren’t even open yet and I was tilling up the ground. We’ve tried traps I didn’t work and I did have catnip for the cats but that didn’t work we do have other animals we have deer we have Fox we have so many animals in the woods here I need a plant that I can use to plant around the chicken coop and around other areas.
Hi Norva,
You may try planting peppermint or spearmint around your coop or property.
What is the fresh cab and where can you find
it? I too have a problem with mice and rats also live live in country surrounded by fields. The6 make nests in the fan of my lawn mower and mess it up! Would love to find something that really works! Ty
Fresh Cab is a botanical-based repellent. You can find it a most farm supply stores.
I have all growing in the garden.and nothing stops them.we live at the back of a railway line. the only thing that may stop them is rat glue traps. at least for the mice.
Dear Yodi,
PLEASE DO NOT USE GLUE TRAPS. THEY ARE THE MOST CRUEL OPTION AS THEY SUFFER SO AND IT TAKES THEM ALONG TIME TO DIE. IMAGINE IF YOU DIED LIKED THAT
There is a very large cat the roams from the front of my yard to the back, moving on to the next neighbors yard. We also have very precocious squirrels. My collard greens are rated constantly; This morning leaves were torn off and left behind when generally there are just holes eaten throughout the leaves.
Empty shells, peanut &walnut shells are strewn about and sometimes on top of a lower brick fence. I have come across buried peanuts as well. Is the mice/rats, squirrels or neighbors. 3X I have found 3-4 inch beef bones.
Does cilantro attract mice? KC
Yes, mice eat cilantro!